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Thursday, September 17, 2015

A Review of Fuzzy Mud + Back-to-School Reads! by Donna Galanti

"Be careful. Your next step may be your last."

In Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar, fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh
grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from school since forever. But when
a bully challenges Marshall to a fight, he avoids the conflict and takes a shortcut
home through forbidden woods. Tamaya, a good girl who always follows the rules,
reluctantly follows.

They soon get lost, and walk into big trouble with fuzzy
mud that holds a dark secret. Even bigger trouble unravels in the days to come when
the government gets involved. A scary new disease, an experiment gone wrong, an
eccentric scientist. It all comes together to change their world. Can one
little girl make a difference?

I am a huge fan of Sachar’s Newbery Medal Winner Holes,
so was eager to read this book and was lucky to get an advanced reader copy. This book has the flavor of a horror book for
kids but without the full-on scary – meaning no nightmares.

This book is much
shorter than Holes, and I would have liked to see the horror, mystery, and
character development deepened for a more satisfying journey.There was so much more to expand on.

That being said, Sachar packs a lot of story in a short time. You'll
fall for Tamaya, the quiet girl with the big heart. While fairly predictable,
the story is more about the journey and the cast of characters each facing
their own challenges.

Sachar does a good job of getting us up to speed with the
science behind the "fuzzy mud" in short bursts that ratchets up the
tension and leads us to wonder about the fate of the characters, although the
eccentric scientist seems a bit cartoonish. Overall, an entertaining tale! I
recommend for kids of all ages (even the grown-up kind).

Check out eight of my back-to-school recommendations for middle-schoolers to "fall" in love with reading - from classic to fantasy to contemporary (including one by a Mayhemmer here!).

#1 SURVIVING BEAR ISLAND (contemporary) by Paul Greci
This thrilling adventure begins after a sea kayaking
trip takes a dangerous turn and Tom Parker is stranded on the remote, outer
coast of the unpopulated Bear Island in the rough terrains of the Alaskan
wilderness. He must put his skills to the test as he fights to reach safety
through a wilderness full of bears and other dangers.

MY REVIEW
This book is a new classic I thought better than
Hatchet! Surviving Bear Island is a story you won’t want to put down. I found
myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it – I had to know what would
happen next to Tom. Armed with only a small survival kit and his will to find
his father, 12-year-old Tom must put his wilderness survival skills to the test
if he wants to live. Each day brings new challenges to find food, make fire,
and avoid death by starvation, injury, hypothermia – or bear. Tom may have only
himself to count on in this harsh landscape, but he is not alone. His mother’s
songs and father’s words of wisdom, come to him as he faces life and death each
day. We watch him go from the reluctant hero of his own adventure tale to a
young man, strong of heart and spirit. A beautifully written novel of love,
loss, faith, and survival that will stay with you long after you’ve cherished
the last word.

#2 WONDER (contemporary) by R.J Palacio
August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial
deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s
about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid
then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid,
with an extraordinary face.

MY REVIEW
R.J. Palacio has created a character to love and admire
in 10-year-old Auggie – along with his loyal friends. You will laugh and cry as
Auggie navigates a new world that is often cruel and embracing. As the mother
of a young boy, I so felt the pain of Auggie’s rejection and unfortunate
disfigurement. I wondered how I, or my son, would react in such a situation. A
great topic for discussion between me and my son. This book is a “wonder” and
so is Auggie.

#3 HOLES (contemporary) by Louis Sachar
Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention
center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending every day
digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. The boys are digging
holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried
under a dried-up lake?

MY REVIEW
This is a gem of a book I wish I’d read sooner. My son
brought it home and sucked it down in one sitting. It’s super fun how the
author, Louis Sachar, masterfully intertwined the story from the past with the
current tale and tied it up perfectly at the end. It held hope and joy in the
most barren and dark conditions where the faces of evil shone bright. Stanley
and his friend Zero are unlikely heroes that tell a tale of true friendship.

#4 THE MAGIC THIEF (fantasy) by Sarah Prineas
In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a
young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure.

MY REVIEW
The Magic Thief is a flash-bash of a magic tale with a
humble boy, Conn, who simply knows he is destined to be a Wizard – and maybe
the only one to save his town from its un-magic demise. Conn’s determined voice
shines through with flinty-glinty fun and grit as he navigates his new role as
an unlikely apprentice to Nevery (a stern, serious wizard with a hidden good
heart). Add some unusual sidekicks (like a bruiser of a body guard who loves to
knit, make biscuits and pie), dark villains and creepy, twilight places and
you’ve got a mish-mash mosh of adventure with just enough intrigue and wonder –
and of course, magic. Looking forward to Conn’s next adventure!

#5 SPARROW ROAD (contemporary) by Sheila
O’Connor
It’s the summer before seventh grade, and
twelve-year-old Raine O'Rourke’s mother suddenly takes a job that’s hours from
home at mysterious Sparrow Road - a creepy, dilapidated mansion that houses an
eccentric group of artists and an unexpected secret from Raine’s own life that
changes her forever.

MY REVIEW
I wish I could give this book a “blizzard of stars”.
This is the book that made me fall in love with reading middle grade again.
Raine has an unexpected summer that at first she resists, but as she transforms,
and the people she meets transforms, it changes her life forever. O'Connor
creates a colorful scene and set of many characters with sparse, poetic prose.
We see and feel all the characters through Raine’s eyes and heart. I flipped
back to pages to re-read the scenes that painted my heart with wonder and
feeling. It’s a book about searching for something you don’t know. It’s about
love, hope, redemption, getting left behind – and doing the leaving yourself
when ready.

#6 THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (magical realism) by
Katherine Applegate
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big
Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him
through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan
see their home through new eyes.

MY REVIEW
Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to
create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship,
art, and hope. This story of Ivan the gorilla broke my heart – and then mended
it again…over and over. This tale is a testament to the transformative power of
friendship and love, and reveals that nothing is impossible if you want it
badly enough. We see more deeply the strengths, and weaknesses, in our own
humanity from one gorilla than from a cast of humans. And we can celebrate the
hope in all of us that remains even in our darkest hour and in a place where
the dimmest of lights can power the brightest of change. This simply written
yet powerfully poetic story will stay in your heart forever – and so will its
hero, Ivan.

#7 THE FALSE PRINCE (fantasy) by Jennifer A.
Nielsen
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify
the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to
find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet
prince.

MY REVIEW
Couldn’t put this one down! I’m a sucker for a medieval
setting of kings and commoners, paupers and princes, castles and dungeons, and
championing the underdog. You’ll want to follow the adventures of Sage from
orphan to would-be prince laced with intrigue. Nielsen drops clues along the
way making you wonder just who this orphan Sage is, and it’s just enough to
pack a powerful punch at the end when it all wraps up. And when you think you
know what’s going on actually comes true, you’ll be cheering on the good guys
and giving the bad guy a good kick along with his most welcome comeuppance.
Can’t wait to read the next book in this trilogy.

#8 MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (classic)
by Jean Craighead George
Terribly unhappy in his family’s crowded New
York City apartment, Sam Gribley runs away to the solitude and danger of
the Catskill mountains, where he finds a side of himself he never knew.

MY REVIEW
This book was written in 1959 but there are
still lessons to be learned today of achieving independence, making your
dream a reality, finding your own way, and solving problems. Most of
all, it shines a light on how we can still appreciate the grand beauty
of nature all around us and live in harmony with it.
Follow a year with Sam as he makes a home in the old woods of his
grandfather and teaches himself to live off nature’s resources, make
friends in the wild…and most importantly learn to love his own company. I
didn’t want his adventure to end. I like to think of Sam still there
living in his tree home as I come whistling up the glen to visit him for
a dinner of fresh caught fish and acorn pancakes with homemade jam.

6 comments:

Thanks for sharing, Donna. it's great to hear about books off my radar- and some certainly on it. My 11-yr-old was assigned The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer. It was not a book i would have chosen but I am so glad I read it. Really moving.

Eden, thanks for sharing and I have not heard of The Mailbox so will check out. My son especially likes moving books. For months he would go into the bookstore and ask 'Do you have anymore books like Wonder?" I remember the first time a book moved him. It was Tarzan and he read it on the couch all afternoon and when it ended he said "I didn't know it would end sad!" And then he started reading it all over again.

I read Fuzzy Mud last week and enjoyed it. It was a fun, quick read. As an author who has penned an MG infection novel, I especially enjoyed the science behind the fuzzy mud. Marshall fell a little flat for me, but Tamaya was a lovable character and I was glad the focus stayed on her for most of the book. Sachar compared the fuzzy mud to the growing overpopulation problem and I think that may have been his purpose for writing the book. It's something I think about often and it was well illustrated by the way Sachar described the growth rate of the ergonyms. Good stuff. And now I'm off to buy Sparrow Road!

Robert, thanks for your thoughts! Marshall was a bit flat for me too - and there was so much more to explore with him if the book were longer. I hope you like Sparrow Road - definitely a different sort of book than Fuzzy Mud! I connected personally to Sparrow Road with moving a lot as a child and also being adopted and imagining who my natural parents were, as a young girl.

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The authors of Project Mayhem do their best to provide accurate, witty, and sometimes manic information pertaining to all things middle grade. Any resemblance to anybody else's manic, witty, and accurate information is purely serendipitous. However, the views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the other writers on this blog. Except, we all agree that reading Project Mayhem will brighten your day. Drop by mic.